


In the dark

by Nightchild78



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 14:03:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3413387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightchild78/pseuds/Nightchild78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he was on board the Valiant, Jack wasn't alone to face things crawling in the dark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the dark

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Jack couldn't die, or rather he couldn't stay dead. It was a fact. _He_ was a fact. These were the Doctor's words. He was forever and nothing would change it.

He couldn't say he was really surprised. He had known it inwardly, long before the Doctor said it out loud, but despite all the signs, he had kept the hope that, maybe, maybe, the Doctor could fix him and bring his former life back to him.

At first, he thought nothing could be worse. Facing the eternity, all the people he cared for growing old and dying without being able to change anyhthing. Then the Master came and he knew he was wrong : it wasn't the worst thing that could happened to him.

But the worst wasn't either the pain or the endless days of torture with only the Master's grimacing face laughing at him. No. He knew how to handle pain and torture. He was trained to it, long before he became an immortal.

No, the worst was elsewhere. When the lights were switched off. When he was left alone in the impenetrable darkness and the suffocating silence of the engine room. Then he could see them, crawling and creeping in the dark like horrendous snakes. He knew them by name : Sorrow, Despair, Fear and Anger. He heard their hissing voices whispering in his ear and telling him that there was no hope anymore, that the Doctor was a liar and would never come to save him. While he was struggling in his chains, they repeated mercilessly their litany, again and again, winding around him, encircling him in their rings until he felt hot tears on his cheek and began to beg them to stop it and leave him alone.

But, just when he was about to give up to despair and let insanity have the upper hand, another sound reached him : a soft and deep voice tinged with a Welsh accent, coming from a distant past, when his life wasn't just full of tears and blood and where happiness had its place in it.

At first, it was hardly a whisper in his ear, then it got stronger and stronger, until it covered the hissings and filled the whole hold of the Valiant. The voice said he mustn't give up, that everything would be alright and he would be free at last. It said the Doctor loved him and wouldn't have left him in this state if he hadn't thought there was a chance to save the world and their lives.

Gradually, he felt renewed hope flood into his heart. He was worn out but once again ready to smile at his tormentor and determined to stand his ground until deliverance came.

Once the snakes finally beat a retreat in a chorus of furious hissing, the voice still lulled him with endearments for hours. When Jack ended up falling asleep, he used to dream of a well-turned out young man and made a promise to himself : if he finally got out of the hold of the Valiant, he swore things would change. He would come back to Cardiff and do things properly. No matter what it would cost, he wouldn't waste his chance this time.

_End._

 


End file.
